Arbour Court care home ordered to make urgent improvements by health watchdog

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission made an unannounced visit to Arbour Court Care Home in Marple, which cares for up to 60 people, and found problems with record keeping.

The watchdog issued a formal warning to Barchester Healthcare Limited, registered provider of Arbour Court, after the visit – and said it must improve by this Sunday or face a possible fine or court action.

Inspectors raised a number of concerns, including their observation that a ‘frail and vulnerable’ resident had their needs overlooked and neglected during the morning of their visit.

Records showed that they had not been checked by care or nursing staff for four hours and inspectors ruled that staff had failed to appropriately plan for this person’s care.

The report said: “We raised our concerns with the nursing staff who told us that this person had been discharged from hospital the day before and care staff had probably got used to them not being there, so had omitted to check that their needs were being met.”

Inspectors also noted that another resident’s care plan specified they needed to drink one and a half to two litres of fluid per day – but records indicated this was not always met.

The Home Office says the reforms will “put the public in the driving seat”

Victims of anti-social behaviour will be able to choose the punishment for offenders under government plans.

They will be given the right to choose from a list of out-of-court penalties handed down to tackle low-level crime.

The draft Anti-Social Behaviour Bill will also allow people to demand meetings with the police if their complaints are not dealt with properly.

Commons Leader Andrew Lansley said the plans, which are being consulted on, would “put victims first”.

He told MPs: “Measures include a new community trigger which will empower victims and communities to demand that local agencies deal with persistent problems where they have failed to do so.

“It will also speed up the eviction of anti-social tenants by introducing a faster route for the most serious criminal or anti-social behaviour.”

Possible punishments

Paying compensation to the victim

Signing a contract agreeing to “acceptable-behaviour”

Participating in alcohol or drug treatment programmes

Repairing damage caused

Community service, such as 10 hours of local unpaid work

The reforms are designed to replace Labour’s so-called Asbos which critics say have become a badge of honour for some offenders.

The “community trigger” is designed to prevent victims like Fiona Pilkington suffering sustained abuse while the authorities fail to crackdown on the culprits.

Ms Pilkington killed herself and her disabled daughter in 2007 after suffering a decade of abuse from local gangs.

‘Made to pay’

Mr Lansley said the Home Affairs select committee would scrutinise the draft legislation before making its recommendations in February next year.

The Home Office is asking members of the public and frontline professionals to give their views on the community remedy before the laws become finalised.

Javed Khan, chief executive of Victim Support, said victims wanted a greater say in how nuisance behaviour and offenders are dealt with.

“Victims can benefit enormously from knowing the offender is being made to pay for what they’ve done,” he said.

He welcomed the community remedy measure which “goes one step further by offering a range of options for the victim to choose from”.

A recent survey suggested that more than a third of adults – 36% – would be interested in attending free classes with police officers and volunteers to learn about combating anti-social behaviour and how to avoid danger when walking home alone.